Audience Of One
by Portrait
Summary: When Vladimir and Stefan flee the Volturi to after the confrontation.


He sits there staring, not blinking, or caring as the blackness descends upon him. He can feel Stefan take his arms; heft him from the ground, cursing to himself in Latin. "We have to run," he whispers hurriedly.

As Vladimir stands, he glares wickedly at his shoulder. The perfectly shaped bite mark was still burning, and he knew that Corin's teeth would forever be on his body.

Fires burn around the two, some large and others small. Behind them the castle they called home moments before was in flame.

They exchanged a short, angry look as the last member of their coven was torn apart by Felix and Santiago. As the two joined the rest of the Guard, Vladimir and Stefan began to move backwards.

Aro, Marcus, and Caius waltzed forward, smiling arrogantly. Aro was just a step in front of his coven, eyes glinting.

His coven converged behind him, smug victory seeping off of them.

With one more look to the fires, the Volturi, and each other, Vladimir and Stefan turned and fled.

They heard the snap of Aro's fingers as he stopped his Guard. They had begun to chase after the disgraced.

Even if they weren't being followed, Vladimir and Stefan would not stop running. They ran until they were sure the Volturi were long gone, and began to mourn.

--

They should have destroyed the Volturi when they had the chance. This they can agree on.

Back when they were in charge of the world, they could have easily wiped out the Italians. They had heard whispers – from Aro himself, nomads, and people from their own coven. Aro was planning a takeover.

Why they did not see the threat still pesters them.

Stefan leans against the wall of their shelter, hissing, "We plot just as they."

"But we do not let them know," Vladimir added.

"And we take back is rightfully ours."

They share a smirk, truly believing in their haphazard plan.

--

Even if the Volturi did know of the rebellion, they could not be bothered to care. It was the year 1000, and it was the five-hundred year anniversary of their take over. They were the unstoppable Volturi, and everything was in their favor.

--

Vladimir could help the laugh that escaped his lips as he heard of Caius.

_Evil, invincible,_ _inexorable._

All the words that had been thrown around were shared as a laugh. News of Caius swept across the vampire world, and the Romanians could not have been happier.

Werewolves were their new favorite species.

--

"I have only one complaint," Vladimir drawled, letting his dinner slide from his fingers and slump onto the dirt. "He should have died."

"Indeed," Stefan nodded, frowning at the putrid odor of death. "The only good is that he _almost _died."

"I suspect he felt terrified," Vladimir murmured.

"It is quite possible he still is," Stefan added, kicking at the pile of corpses.

They were quite as their thoughts processed. "Werewolves are being hunted into extinction…"

"Let us cross our fingers," Stefan began.

"And hope one of them finishes the job." Vladimir finished.

Behind them their newly assembled coven stood wordless, staring in shock at their Masters. They were too young to know of the attack, and would not have been permitted to know in any case. They all took pleasure in hearing of the Volturi suffering, sharing apprehensive glances with each other. The time for their Masters to rule once again was approaching.

--

It was not a new army. It was a group of twenty-two soldiers who fully believed in their cause. They had spent thirty years training for this. They were ready. Only two of them were skilled, but that did not bother Vladimir or Stefan. They had descended into insanity long ago.

The Volturi swept forward, not quite as arrogant as before.

It seemed a recent chain of rotten events had cursed them. Caius was attacked by a werewolf, and Didyme had been killed. Marcus wasn't as haughty as he once was. As he walked forward, flanked by his Guard, his face was apathetic.

A snicker ran through the group of vampires that opposed the Volturi.

Marcus' face did not change, but Caius hissed, and Aro's hands clenched into fists.

So quickly that they got whip-lash, the fight was over. Just like the five-hundred years before, they were defeated. Fires raged around them, and they once again found the Volturi stalking toward them. And once again, they found themselves fleeing, but this time the feeling was different.

_White hot boiling rage._

They did not know if they would ever be able to stand up to the Volturi, but they did know they would have to try harder. So they retreated back to their home.

It was never certain how word managed to pass so quickly around the world, but Vladimir and Stefan were the latest laughing stock.

To make it even worse – or possibly better, they were not quite sure – they had been blamed for Didyme's death.

It was preposterous, of course. The news was that it was jealous rage, but they knew the truth. Something vile was going on within the Volturi ranks.

--

Things were quite for a long time.

Vladimir and Stefan behaved. They hated the Volturi from afar. They kept their fantasies of eye-gouging and limb-tearing to themselves, and found new ways to take care of their anger.

Their favorite was drawing up pictures of Aro and throwing darts at his obnoxious smile.

--

Almost five hundred years after they were defeated for a second time, the Volturi acquired some new members. They were not the come-and-go Guard that the Romanians did not giving a second thought.

It seemed Aro had broken his own rule – _hypocrite – _and created Immortal Children.

It was the way Vladimir and Stefan saw it. They were hardly thirteen. They had been turned two weeks after their thirteenth birthday, after spending thirteen days being tortured before trail. The witch twins had been burned at the stake, and mighty Aro had pulled a stunt and saved them. In the beginning, the vampire world had underestimated the children. No one saw them as children, as they were the age to be married.

They were both 4'8, a laughable height. They were slender, not having yet reached puberty. They had the look and voice of childhood innocene, and nobody could quite understand why Aro had changed them.

The world learned quickly, and fear blanketed the atmosphere. Everyone was on guard for the longest time, trying not to slip up.

Vladimir and Stefan found it hilarious. Let the witch hurt them. Let her brother still them.

Their suicadal phase was short lived.

--

No one had ever thought of anyway to live away from human blood. No one wanted to, so the point was mute. It was mute until Carlisle Cullen came around.

He was crazy. Or he had to be.

"What could have happened?" Stefan quizzed as he strolled along with Vladimir one afternoon.

"Who knows?" Vladimir shook his head. "He feeds of off animals _and _enjoys the company of the Volturi… I would like to meet him, see why he is so…"

"Odd," Stefan supplied.

Vladimir nodded absentmindedly, rubbing at his shoulder. The scar glistened happily in the sunlight.

--

Years passed. Quickly, they did, as Vladimir and Stefan devoted their lives to study. They were pleasantly surprised to see how far the human race had advanced since they last heard, and agreed to spend more time with the new technologies. Some curious contraption, a telephone, as it was called, had been invented. As far as they had heard, it was like magic. People could communicate in a new way. Why people would want such a thing was beyond them, and the Romanians once again retreated into the safety of their insanity.

--

"I have finished," Vladimir announced in flawless Latin. He stood from the table where he had been working, smiling at the pile of paper and bits of charcoal. He carried the parchment over to the nearest wall, and Stefan nailed it into place. It was one of the most intricate pictures he had ever drew. Aro, Marcus, and Caius stood, holding hands. They were standing in a pile of ash that was their wives, Guard, and castle. Around them, flames licked at their body, and they had expressions of pure terror. "The target is much smaller, but I feel this one is more enjoyable to look at."

"Indeed it is," Stefan agreed.

He took the darts in his hand, passing half along to his only friend.

They took aim, both hitting Aro squarely in his shrieking face.

"Bullseye."

--

_A killing spree?_

_Perhaps._

_Something big._

_Of course something big._

_This new centry… is filled with idiots._

Vladimir nor Stefan had any respect for the Cullen that went into Volterra.

"He should have attacked the Guard, or perhaps Aro." Stefan said as he walked along with Vladimir. They were headed to the theatre, in the hopes of finding pretty young girls to feed from.

"Although that would have been nice, there is one downside," Vladimir agreed, a note of sadness in his voice.

They said in unison: "We would have missed it."

--

Everyone was heading off to America. They did not understand why, until Charles and Makenna showed up. They were shaking, smiling in a loopy way.

"Have you heard?" Makenna purred. "The Cullens have created an Immortal Child. They are putting together an army to stop the Volturi. Charles and I are headed to Volterra to witness with the Volturi."

They were so intune that by this point all Vladimir had to say was, "Where do the Cullens live?"

"Forks, Washington, is what we heard," Charles answered, pulling his mate behind him, away from the Romanians. They were even creepy to other vampires. Stefan smiled to himself at this, nodding along with Vladimir.

"Thank you very much for informing us of this," he drawled.

--

It wasn't hard to get money for plane tickets. All they had to do was waltz into club. They slaughtered everyone in the building, taking all the money that could find. As they left, they sat the building on fire.

Vladimir and Stefan watched in awe as the flames lept up the building, swallowing it so quickly that the police had to assume everyone had perished in the fire.

They smirked all the way to America.

--

The Cullens were just as queer as Vladimir and Stefan believed them to be. They quickly came to find that Carlisle _hadn't _been naughty. He had just allowed his vampire 'son' to have sex with a human and produce a half-bred. While they found this incredibly exciting, neither would allow themselves to touch the child.

All sorts of crazy people gathered at the Cullens home, and as it neared the time for the Volturi to arrive, both Romanians truly believed that the Volturi would be going down.

Considering their luck, it was not the case. Although Vladimir and Stefan loved to see Aro squirm, and Caius have his dreams crushed, nothing could make them feel any happiness about the way things were going. If they were to have a fight, the Volturi would perish.

"Of course," Vladimir whispered to Stefan, too low for the others to hear. "Aro will try to get himself and his _dear ones _out of this as smoothly as he can manage."

"A complete waste of time," Stefan sighed.

The only bright spot of the entire trip was seeing the Volturi flee like the cowards they are. The feeling they got from that was enough to keep them high until they returned to their home.

Vladimir shoved down the door, spitting. Stefan slammed his fists into the walls. When they were finished, they were standing in a pile of rubble.

"Well, Stefan, it seems there is only one thing left for us to do," Vladimir sighed. He picked his way through the rubble until he found the darts, and the rest of the money they had gathered from the club.

Vladimir spilt the stack of money in half, and Stefan tucked it into his coat. "Shall we go for a modest cabin, or a nice castle?"

"I was thinking a cabin, Stefan, but I would be willing to hear suggestions."

"The Volturi have gone unchallenged for too long," Stefan began.

"The bigger the better for our coven," Vladimir finished.

They smirked to each other, ideas of war floating through their minds. This time, they would change only those with potential, and they would be trained into bloodthirsty monsters. They were not screwing around this time, and they intended to prove it.


End file.
